Werburga, Abbess of Ely, c.700Commemoration
3 February

Werburga, the daughter of Wulfhere, king of Mercia, and his wife
Ermenilda, is associated with several
religious houses. She is said to have been a nun at Ely and to
have succeeded her mother as abbess. But she was buried at
Hanbury, in Staffordshire, and her body was subsequently
translated to Chester, between 907 and 958, in order to protect
it from the invading Danes. As a saintly member of the family
of Etheldreda, Werburga continued to be honoured at Ely. The
shrine was destroyed at the Reformation but the abbey church of St
Werburga at Chester became a cathedral in 1541.